anCnoc Peatheart

Peaty, as advertised, and subtly balanced. It’s not a punch in the face, but the smokiness is there, and is rounded up nicely by a single large cube of ice which, sadly, is required in the tropics.

Nose: Strong peaty notes of black pepper with hints of leather; green apple an iodine. Palate: Oily with caramel and peat; butterscotch and sultana; faint pepper. Finish: Very well-balanced; smooth and peaty, though not smouldering; relatively short but not disappointing—slow fading embers. Overall: A really pleasant dram. Would be nice to try a few different variations as it ages.

Smooth considering pricerange. Stands out in a good way. Spicy sweet smoky

Where the “regular” 24y Ancnoc didn’t really convince me, I wanted to see how this distillery performs with some added peat. After lots of different whiskies I realized that I not only like peated whiskies more but they also got way higher scores than unpeated ones for me. The nose of this NAS from the Knockdhu Distillery opens up with a charming peat that is labeled as 40 ppm so somewhere in the medium range. It definitely is not aggressive at all but presents itself more like smores / burnt marshmallows that are dipped in a vanilla-orange marmalade. It is simple but rich if you give it some time. I must say I really like it. On the palate it remains more laid back with a slight red pepper burn but stays sweet like whole grain cookies. The wood is there. The smoke is there. The bourbon cask flavor is there. Everything well combined to create a simple yet nice and likable easy sipper. I wanted to say that I miss complexity, intensity and a more interesting finish but then I realized that this whisky isn’t trying to offer an multi-layered experience like that - it just offers a nice peated, young, sweet and also wood characterized evening dram. And that it does properly. I like it for that reason and makes me interested in peated ancnoc whiskies with a bid more age and finesse.

Dufftown Distilleries Walk with Michelle - Dufftown 9/3/2019